emmbee

We are going on a family trip (mom, dad, adult daughter) at the end of September. We are going to Oktoberfest in Munich, then driving to Venice, Italy. We need some suggestions for town/ area to stay that is charming, quaint, interesting, good food and/or wine for one night (Italy or southern Germany) before we go to Venice. Ideally, we would like to drop off our car there and take a train the rest of the way to Venice. However, we could drop it off some other place close to Venice. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

enzian

If you rent the car in Germany you will pay a hefty drop fee to take it to Italy and drop there. Why not turn in the car before Oktoberfest? You won't want in Munich anyway. Mthen you could take the train to Bolzano, a 4-hour trip. This breaks up the journey to Venice just about in half, and is a pleasant place to spend the night.

michelhuebeli

You don't need a car in Munich, and you sure don't want to show up in Venice with a car, never mind the extra cost and hassle of the cross-border one-way rental and the need for the International Driver's Permit and the road-tax sticker Vignette for the highways through Austria etc., so I suggest thinking train all the way.

It takes 6:39 hours if you take the 11:31 that gets in at 18:10, just in time to find your hotel and still go for dinner before it gets dark. From the train you'll have splendid views en route. And there are plenty other trains - see www.bahn.de (use Venice Santa Lucia for destination).

If you'd rather break up the journey to catch a bit of fresh mountain air, then you can get off in Bolzano, take the local train to Merano (no need to reserve for that stretch) - a lovely place, look it up. Bolzano itself is not shabby either, but Merano is special.

If you take the 07:31 from Munich, you're in Merano by 12:14. Have lunch, spend the afternoon looking around, go for a bit of a hike, carry on the next morning to Venice, that would be a nice way of doing it.

emmbee

We are actually are renting the car in Zurich (where my son lives). The car is not to use in Zurich, but to leave the city to go to Germany. My husband lived in Germany for 3 years when he was in the service, and wants a car for the first part of the trip to show us around Germany, a little. I am all for taking a train for the entire trip, but this part is kind of important for my husband (even thought we will pay a surcharge for dropping it off in another country).

emmbee

Though, maybe I can talk him in to dropping it off in Germany, and take the train to Italy...

michelhuebeli

Ah, that's different. But you're right, once you leave Munich (actually, once you arrive in Munich unless you have day trips planned that take you out of town), the car makes no more sense, and my hunch is that a one-way rental Zürich-Munich (maybe airport-to-airport) would be less ruinous than down to Venice.

But if he would like to chauffeur you, then that's good enough a reason, and you can still swing by Merano (did you look it up? Ain't it pretty?).

emmbee

Yes! My daughter really liked it also. That's definitely a possibility. Thanks for suggestion.

Travelforbeer

Emmbee-
There is another option that you could consider. Catch the train from Zurich to some city close to where you want to tour in Germany and rent a car there. Tour Germany in the car and drop it off when you get to Munich. Then when you leave Munich take the train to Venice as michelhuebeli
suggested above.

Now you can compare the cost of renting the car, paying for gas, the cost of any tolls and vignettes, the drop cost, and the cost of parking the car in Munich (and any other place), vs. the cost of the train tickets from Zurich to Germany and Munich to Venice. Include the cost of getting from your Munich hotel to the Munich train station in your train costs.

I suspect you won't need the flexibility of a rental car in Zurich since your son lives there. And you really don't need the flexibility of a car once you arrive in Munich. But the train fare for 3 plus the car rental in Germany only might be more than a car rental for the whole trip with all of the associated fees. You will most probably be more rested if you take the train.

When driving in Germany, be careful with drinking. The DIU laws appear to be a lot more strict than those in the US (and probably those that were in effect in Germany when your SO was stationed there!!)

Have a good trip and I'll save you a beer at the 'Fest!!!

enzian

We are actually doing some thing similar, in that we will be in Munich during Oktoberfet without daughter, then going to Italy ( the Dolomites). We got very inexpensive tickets from Munich to Bolzano by booking on Bahn.de. Hopefully those cheap tickets are still available.

enzian

Mke that " with our daughter.".

Also, I suggest you look into renting the car just across the border in Germany, and dropping it in Germany, for the most cost effective approach. It is an easy trip from Zurich airport to a border town, and should save you a lot on the car rental. Consult the Swiss rail site, SBB.ch, and the rail amp to find a suitable town. Somewhere along the Bodensee should work.

neckervd

Bus from Zurich to Friedrichshafen (8 EUR/pax, http://meinfernbus.de/?gclid=CNi4wdvUn7gCFcO_3godFwMA-Q) rent a car there and give it back at Munich, Rosenheim or Garmisch)
or
drive from Munich
either via Garmisch - Fernpass - Imst - Oberinntal - Engiadina - Lake Como
or via Memmingen - Bregenz - Chur - San Bernardino
to Lugano (Switzerland), give back your car and go on by train via Milano.